Documentary Script Template
Picture on the left, sound on the right, free in your browser
Write your documentary the way editors and narrators read it: what we see on the left, what we hear on the right, one row per beat. This free documentary script template gives you an editable two-column A/V script with row types, a source for every claim and a live running time, then exports it to PDF, Google Docs, Word, CSV or a Final Draft screenplay.
The A/V format comes from television, and it is still how most documentaries are written: the picture column lists shots, archive and reconstructions, the sound column carries the narration, the interview bites, the music and the effects. Reading across a row tells you at once whether the words and the image say the same thing or pull against each other.
Everything runs in your browser. Your script is saved in this browser only and is never sent to a server.
The example is a scene from The Last Keeper, a documentary reconstruction about the keepers of Ar-Men, the Breton lighthouse lit in 1881 and automated in 1990. The keeper is a composite, fictional character.
Your A/V script
One row per beat. Write sound cues in square brackets, like [Music: cello] or [SFX: door]: they are not counted in the running time. Leave Speaker empty for narration.
- 10:05 read aloud
- 20:07 read aloud
- 30:05 read aloud
- 40:05 read aloud
- 50:03 read aloud
- 60:03 read aloud
Saved automatically in this browser.
Running time
0:28
66 spoken words in 6 rows, at 140 words per minute.
Read-aloud time of the narration and the sound bites. Silent pictures, music beds and pauses add to it in the edit.
Export
Copy as table pastes a real two-column table into Google Docs or Word. The .fdx file is converted to screenplay format: video becomes action, narration becomes NARRATOR (V.O.), interview bites go under the speaker’s name, so it opens in ScreenWeaver and Final Draft.
What is a two-column documentary script?
A two-column documentary script, also called an A/V script (audio and visual), splits every moment of the film into two cells side by side. The Video column describes what is on screen: a shot you will film, an archive clip, a reconstruction, a title card, the framing of an interview. The Audio column holds everything the audience hears at that moment: the narrator, an interview sound bite, music, sound effects.
The format exists because a documentary is built in the edit. Narration is written against pictures, not the other way round, and the table lets the writer, the editor and the narrator see both at once. It is also what producers, broadcasters and archive researchers expect to read when they review a cut.
How to write a documentary script
A documentary script is rewritten more than any fiction script: once before the shoot as a plan, and again in the edit, line by line, against the pictures you actually have. Three habits make both passes faster.
Build it in sequences
Start from the question the film answers and the person it follows, then cut the story into sequences of one to three minutes. Inside a sequence, one row is one beat: a new image, a new idea or a new voice. Give each row a type, so you can see at a glance how much of the film rests on narration, on interviews, on archive and on reconstruction.
Write the narration for the ear
Narration is heard once, at the speed of the edit, so write it for the ear: short sentences, one fact per sentence, concrete nouns, the verb early. Do not describe what the picture already shows; say what it cannot show, like a date, a cause, a number, a consequence. Read every line aloud. A reconstruction shot usually lasts three to six seconds, so a ten word line covers one or two shots.
Source every claim
Every factual line needs a source you can show: a logbook, a letter, a press clipping, an interview, an archive reference. Write it in the Source field of the row that makes the claim, and label reconstructions in the script and on screen. When a commissioning editor or a lawyer reviews the film, the script already answers their first question.
A/V script or screenplay format: when to switch
The A/V table is the right format for a documentary built from existing material: interviews already recorded, archive already cleared, narration written to picture. Screenplay format is better as soon as the film is mostly staged, with reconstructions that need locations, characters, scenes and shot lists, because production tools, from schedules to storyboards, read screenplays.
Switching is mechanical. The Video cell becomes action under a scene heading, the narration becomes a character named NARRATOR with the (V.O.) extension, and each interview bite goes under the name of the person speaking. The .fdx export of this template does exactly that.
ScreenWeaver works in screenplay format: it has no two-column mode and it does not generate voices. Import the .fdx, keep your narration as NARRATOR (V.O.), and ScreenWeaver breaks each reconstruction into shots and storyboards them with the same faces from shot to shot. Record or synthesise the narration in your own tools, then cut the film where you already edit.
Turn your reconstructions into shots
Import the .fdx into ScreenWeaver to storyboard every reconstruction and generate each shot from reference sheets. Writing is free on the Screenwriter plan; storyboards and video generation come with the Auteur plan at $39.99 a month, with 6,000 credits included.
Open ScreenWeaver for freeGuides and tools for documentary makers
- AI documentary generatorFrom a sourced script to a storyboard and consistent reconstruction shots.
- How to make a documentary with AIThe full workflow, from research and script to generated footage and the edit.
- Formatting voice-over and narrationHow V.O. and narration are written in screenplay format, with examples.
- Formatting documentary interviews in a scriptHow to write interview material into a narrative film script.
- Script time calculatorTime a whole script or a block of narration from its word count.
Stop fixing margins.Formatting is built in.
ScreenWeaver handles industry-standard formatting and exports to PDF and Final Draft (.fdx). Free, with unlimited pages.
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Documentary Script Template: the complete guide
It gives you an editable A/V table with six row types, a speaker and a source on every row, and a running time computed from the spoken words at 130 to 150 words per minute. It exports to print or PDF, to a table you paste into Google Docs or Word, to CSV, and to a Final Draft screenplay where narration becomes NARRATOR (V.O.).
For this workflow, the central problem is clear: a documentary script mixes picture, narration, interviews and sources, and in a word processor the columns drift, the running time is a guess and nobody can tell which line rests on which document. Left unresolved, this creates downstream friction and slower decisions. The practical target is a two-column A/V script where every row carries its picture, its sound, its type, its source and its read-aloud time, ready to share as a table or to open as a screenplay.
Limitation to keep in mind: The running time counts words, not pictures: silent sequences, music beds and pauses add screen time the tool cannot see. The Final Draft export does not carry the source column, which stays in the PDF, the table and the CSV.
Advanced workflow: Editors paste the table into the shared script document, keep the CSV as the source log for fact checking, and once the reconstructions are locked, export the .fdx to ScreenWeaver to storyboard and generate each staged shot.
Step-by-Step Workflow
- Name the project and load the example once to see how a reconstruction scene is laid out.
- Add one row per beat: what we see in Video, what we hear in Audio, sound cues in square brackets.
- Set a row type and a source on every factual row, then check the running time against your target length.
- Export: Copy as table for Google Docs or Word, Print for a PDF, CSV for a spreadsheet, .fdx for ScreenWeaver or Final Draft.
Use Cases By Profile
- Director: lay out the sequences before the shoot and see which beats rely on narration and which on interviews or archive.
- Editor or narration writer: write the voice-over against the cut and keep each line within the time its pictures last.
- AI filmmaker: mark every reconstruction, keep its source, and send the staged scenes to ScreenWeaver as a screenplay.
Common Mistakes To Avoid
- Narration that describes what the picture already shows instead of adding what it cannot show.
- Factual lines with no source, which turn the fact check into a rewrite at the worst possible moment.
- Reconstructions that are not labelled in the script, so nobody remembers to label them on screen.
Professional Best Practices
- Read each narration line aloud against its row: if it runs longer than the shots, cut words, not pictures.
- Put the interviewee’s name in the Speaker field so the screenplay export attributes every bite correctly.
- Keep the most specific source for each claim: a dated logbook entry beats a general history book.
Treat this tool output as a decision support layer, not a replacement for authorship. Great scripts are remembered for specific choices, emotional precision, and clarity of dramatic movement. Tools help by removing noise so your energy can go where it matters: character, conflict, escalation, and payoff. If you review outcomes after each pass and keep an explicit log of accepted changes, your workflow becomes faster and more predictable from draft to draft. That consistency is exactly what professional collaborators value: fewer surprises, clearer rationale, and a script that evolves with intent.
Extended FAQ
Is my documentary script saved?
Yes, automatically, in this browser only. Nothing is sent to a server. Clearing your browser data or using a private window removes it, so export a PDF or a CSV of every version you want to keep.
How does the .fdx export handle interviews?
Each row with a name in the Speaker field becomes dialogue under that name in capitals. Rows without a speaker become NARRATOR (V.O.). Sound cues in square brackets become action lines, and a first video line that starts with INT. or EXT. becomes a scene heading.
Why does the running time differ from my page count?
Because an A/V page has no fixed duration. The template times what is spoken, at 130 to 150 words per minute, which is the part of the film you can measure from the script. Add the silent sequences and the music in your edit plan.
Documentary script template FAQ
Yes, this one. Fill in the rows here, click Copy as table and paste into Google Docs or Word: it arrives as a real two-column table with borders. To keep a fixed copy, use Print / Save as PDF, or download the .csv and open it in Google Sheets or Excel.
An A/V script is a table: picture on the left, sound on the right, one row per beat. A screenplay is a single column of scene headings, action and dialogue. Documentaries built in the edit are written in A/V; staged documentaries and reconstructions often move to screenplay format to plan scenes and shots.
In the A/V format, narration sits in the Audio column of the row it covers, often marked V.O. or NARRATOR. In screenplay format it is dialogue under a character called NARRATOR with the (V.O.) extension. The .fdx export applies that rule for you.
The one page per minute rule does not apply to A/V scripts: a page can hold thirty seconds of dense narration or three minutes of observational footage. Time the spoken words instead. This template reads narration and sound bites at 130 to 150 words per minute and adds up every row.
Both. Write a first A/V script before the shoot as a plan of sequences, questions and images you need, then rewrite it once the interviews are transcribed and the archive is found. Most narration is written in the edit, against the final pictures.
Yes. Keep the A/V table for the narration and the sources, export the .fdx and import it into ScreenWeaver, where each reconstruction becomes shots, a storyboard and generated video. Label every generated image as a reconstruction, in the script and on screen.